


On the Outside

by La_Marquise



Category: Psycho-Pass
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-15 06:14:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5774539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/La_Marquise/pseuds/La_Marquise
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After finally being let out of isolation, Kagari finds that there are some things that will take some getting used to.</p><p>I wrote this for the Psycho-pass Secret Santa 2015 on tumblr, and thought I'd post it here.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On the Outside

**Author's Note:**

> Just to reiterate, this was written for the 2015 Psycho-pass secret santa even on tumblr. I posted it on there back in late December but figured I should post it here as well.

On the Outside

A major part of the isolation wards was sensory deprivation. Those who had been dubbed latent criminals were kept in small, sparsely furnished rooms with minimal decoration. The walls were white, the bedsheets, white, the clothes, white (though occasionally a pale blue or seafoam green). The most colorful thing brought into the ward was the food, but it seemed as though it was designed to be as bland as humanly possible. The overall lack of sensory stimulation, combined with the mind-numbingly monotonous daily routine and all-encompassing loneliness was enough to make anyone’s hue cloudy, and the majority of inmates eventually slipped into a state of partial catatonia. The isolation facility did a very good job of preparing its long-term inmates for a lifetime of numbness.

What the facility did not prepare its long-term inmates for was the possibility of getting out and the sensory overload that would come with it. As Kagari found out, merely holding onto hazy memories of life on the outside was not enough to prepare himself for life on the outside.

1\. Food

When most people begin a new job, certain events on the first day or certain people are what stick with them the most. For Kagari, the thing that stood out for him the most was the food. After having eaten nothing but the blandest meals for three quarters of his life, Kagari didn’t really expect anything special or different; after all, enforcers are prisoners too, right?

The first time he sat down in the cafeteria with his plate of food, he wasn’t expecting much, but when he had the first mouthful his eyes went wide and he unconsciously hummed in enjoyment, much to the amusement of his fellow colleagues. The new flavors and textures hit him with all the force of a freight train, and he devoured plate after plate, not noticing that the rice was the tiniest bit overdone or that the meat was on the chewy side. He ate until he felt a bit sick, but that didn’t stop him from seeking out dessert.

2\. Social interaction

Needless to say, spending most of his life in solitary confinement didn’t do Kagari’s social skills any favors. Interacting with his colleagues was rocky at first, but nothing could compare to the awkwardness that ensued when he first encountered Shion Karanomori. His gaze had immediately fallen to her exposed cleavage, and he didn’t manage to make eye contact with her for a solid 90 seconds until Kogami cleared his throat and nudged his shoulder.

After that, Kagari went through a phase of asking out every female who crossed his path, his advances coming indiscriminately and without warning. Things came to a head when Yayoi, who could no longer take the the horrendous pick up lines, gave him a good smack. It seemed that Kagari had been utterly in the dark about her sexual orientation.

Another thing that completely mystified Kagari at first was the concept of casual conversation. During his time in isolation, any conversations that Kagari had were either with medical professionals dead-set on trying to understand why he was the way he was, or hushed, hurried things with the other inmates. To Kagari the very idea of chatting idly about the weather or someone’s new hair cut was utterly alien, yet he took to it quickly, and even found immense satisfaction in small talk.

3\. Touch

Perhaps the thing that took the most getting used to for Kagari was touch of any kind. Ever since his early childhood, Kagari had been more or less completely deprived of any physical contact, other than the rough clinical hands of any necessary physicians. Even then their hands were clad in a shield of latex, and Kagari went for years without the sensation of skin on skin.

It was strange to think that something as basic as touch could elicit such a wide variety of emotion within a person. When Kagari first started working as an enforcer he hadn’t really thought about being touched, but after completing his first assignment, which involved subduing a mentally unstable young man on the verge of a breakdown, Masaoka clapped him on the back with a murmured “good job, kid.” It was the first real physical contact he’d had in years.

A week or so after that, Karanomori gave Kagari’s hair an affectionate ruffle. While he’d managed to maintain his cool, even going so far as to grumble and roll his eyes, Kagari felt a surge of of joy and excitement. Afterwards, he made sure to never pass up on any form of physical contact, whether it be a hair ruffle, a hug, or even a handshake.

4\. General Freedoms

Something that never failed to surprise Kagari was just how easy it was to obtain almost anything. While in isolation he’d had to fill out stacks of tedious forms for anything, only to be denied for some reason or other, each one seeming more arbitrary than the last. While working with the MWPSB, Kagari discovered that he could get virtually anything he wanted, within reason of course, and within a couple of months his dorm was filled with games, action figures, and movies. Some of his colleagues raised their eyebrows about his ever-growing collection of toys, but Kagari wasn’t fazed in the slightest. Let them judge all they want, he was beyond caring.

In general, Kagari didn’t care whenever someone commented on his excess of games, candy-based diet, and over-enthusiasm about plotless action movies. As far as Kagari was concerned, those people had all had their chances to gorge on sweets and make silly decisions about how to best use their time. Such things had been denied him for years, and he wasn’t about to pass up on the chance to access them now. As the old saying goes, better late than never.


End file.
